Strategic Direction: 2016 - 2020

Promoting Health Equity

CASSA will promote and contribute to an analysis that is based on the social determinants of health. CASSA will bring together community stakeholders to collectively create and support strategies that:

Share information about existing research, promising practices and outstanding leadership in the field of health equity as it relates to South Asians

Advocate for public policies that improve health outcomes for South Asians

Champion health care services and practices that enable South Asian seniors to enhance their health, wellbeing and independence.

Reducing poverty

CASSA will promote and contribute to an analysis that recognizes the links between poverty and racialization. CASSA, through community organizing, will bring together community stakeholders to collectively create and support various strategies to reduce poverty in the South Asian and other racialized communities. CASSA will work on improving public policy and local practices resulting in reduction of poverty. CASSA’s focus in 2016-2020 will be more specific to Child Poverty, Child Care Advocacy and Workers’ Rights, while continuing to raise public awareness about the Racialization of Poverty.

Supporting Immigration and Settlement

CASSA will continue to pursue several key strategic initiatives to advance South Asians’ immigration and settlement. In the next five years, CASSA will focus on promoting the rights of refugees, strengthening multicultural policies, initiating welcoming communities projects and reducing employment barriers particularly for internationally trained professionals/tradespeople.

Strengthening Gender Equity

CASSA will work with other organizations, activists, and stakeholders to address the various gaps related to gender equity. CASSA, during the next five years, will focus on three key areas:

Leadership and skills development for young women

Training Initiative for the sector on Violence Against Women (VAW) to better identify and support South Asian women and children who are at risk of violence

Promotion of awareness campaigns about abuse prevention and women’s rights

Building an Anti-racist and Anti-oppressive Ontario

Working in solidarity with other communities and organizations, which are working with an anti-racism, anti-oppression framework, CASSA will implement strategies to eliminate racism and oppression. CASSA will work with and in various systems of the municipalities to promote anti-racism. In the next five years, CASSA will focus on four key areas:

Creating awareness of racism in Ontario

Promoting Antiracist, Access and Equity Policies for South Asian organizations

Providing anti-racism, anti-oppression (ARAO) trainings to CASSA’s member agencies and the sector in general

Campaigning for the establishment and implementation of an Anti-Racism Directorate in Ontario